1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the generation and production of electrical power, and particularly to an electrical power generation system using renewable energy including wind, solar, and/or geothermal energy sources.
2. Description of the Related Art
The development of various electrical appliances and devices has led to their widespread installation and use in virtually all developed areas of the world. Electric lighting for street lights and the like is nearly universal in urban and suburban areas throughout the world, and provision for other electrically powered devices (e.g., emergency call boxes, etc.) is also well known.
However, such devices typically require electrical power. The basic installation of an electric street light or emergency call box is generally not difficult or expensive, but the provision of electrical power for such devices can be quite costly and time consuming as trenches are dug for buried electrical cables or poles are placed for overhead electrical wiring. In many instances such electrical lighting and other devices can be relatively widely spaced apart, with only a few individual street lighting units being placed in perhaps a mile of roadway, and perhaps only a single emergency call box being placed in a similar distance. Thus, the installation of electrical power cables and the like for such electrically powered devices can often cost considerably more than the electrical devices themselves. The same can hold true for electrical installations in other remote areas such as campsites, etc.
Accordingly, some efforts have been made in the past to generate the required electrical energy at the site or location of the individual electrical devices. An example of such is found in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-42052 published on Feb. 13, 2002 to Matsushita Seiko KK. This reference describes a street light or the like that is powered by a vertical axis wind turbine and/or a plurality of photovoltaic panels disposed immediately beneath the wind turbine. The panels are sloped to more effectively face the sun, with the slopes of the panels being utilized to deflect airflow toward the wind turbine as the wind blows across the panels.
Another example is found in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2011-219966 published on Nov. 4, 2011 to Tec One. This reference describes an illuminated guidance sign having a vertical axis wind turbine within a housing and a plurality of photovoltaic panels atop the housing. The guidance sign, wind turbine, photovoltaic panels, generator, and electrical storage battery are all contained with or immediately adjacent the housing.
Thus, an electrical power generation system using renewable energy addressing the aforementioned problems is desired.